Dispensing spouts for pouring fluid from a container are well known. For example, Eaton U.S. Pat. No. 949,395 issued Feb. 15, 1910, discloses a spout adapted to be placed above the discharge opening of a keg, including a tapered nozzle and a removable cap for closure of the spout.
Canby U.S. Pat. No. 1,153,998 issued Sept. 21, 1915, discloses a spout which extends obliquely from a central opening of a base having a lateral flange arranged to frictionally engage a corresponding flange in the nozzle of the container.
Stewart U.S. Pat. No. 2,792,976 issued May 21, 1957 discloses a spout for a container wherein a flexible tube may be frictionally secured to the spout.
Sokolik U.S. Pat. No. 2,522,486 issued Sept. 12, 1950 discloses a pouring regulating spout having a narrow but high passageway, the area of which is equal to the round opening of the bottle to which the spout is secured, thereby allowing the operator to quickly reduce the flow through the spout by tipping the body of the bottle. The '486 patent suggests that the device may be made from plastic material, and that "[f] or clear liquids, transparent material would be preferable, but for colored liquids certain color combinations would be attractive." (Column 3, lines 20-25).
It is also known to provide the portion of the transfer apparatus which interfaces with the spout of the container from which fluid is dispensed with internal threads or corrugations for attaching the device to the nozzle. Dohrmann U.S. Pat. No. 1,761,072 issued June 3, 1930, discloses a container having a corrugated flexible spout which is adapted to be housed within the container during non-use.
Miksis U.S. Pat. No. 2,556,627 issued June 12, 1951, discloses an adapter for a fuel can spout for accommodating nozzles of different diameters. The '627 device includes a stepped socket having outer, intermediate, and inner portions of progressively reduced diameters for receiving nozzles of different sizes. Each of the sleeves of the socket is internally threaded to receive the corresponding externally threaded nozzle of the container from which the fluid is dispensed. A flexible conduit threadedly engages the stepped socket for providing fluid communication therewith.
Gersten U.S. Pat. No. 2,904,232, issued Sept. 15, 1959, discloses a flexible pouring spout having a threaded fitting at one end for engaging the nozzle of the container from which fluid is dispensed, and further having a closure cap disposed at the other end of the spout to prevent fluid flow during non-use.
Presently known fluid transfer devices having particular application to automotive fluids are unsatisfactory in several respects. For example, while it is desirable to provide a flexible conduit (hose), corrugated conduits are expensive to manufacture. Moreover, fluid dispensing apparatus which frictionally engage the container from which fluid is dispensed have a tendency to leak once the container is inverted prior to or upon completion of the filling process.